This ceremony was first posted last year for our very first grandchild and time has come for our second grandchild, now turned over 100 days in which to celebrate her first taste of food – a traditional Japanese ritual called ‘okuisome’.

This is a ‘Gelled Aduki Paste with Chestnuts’ using the chestnuts prepared for marron glacé. The chestnuts are more dense and soaked deeply in syrup which makes it a richer gelled aduki paste than the previous post on October 15th, athough the recipe is basically the same. same. マロングラッセ用に作った栗を使用した『栗蒸し羊羹』。 10月15日に投稿した『栗蒸し羊羹』の第２弾。 栗はマロングラッセ用の蜜度の高い栗を使用。 栗の甘さで食べる羊羹には小豆の砂糖は控えめにすると栗が一層引き立ちます。

This is a typical Japanese confectionery called ‘yokan’, a gelled aduki (red bean) paste. People who may not be familiar with ‘yokan’ – here is a link to a one of the most famous traditional maker of Japanese confectionery ‘Toyora’ which also represent the artistry of Japanese confectionery.

It’s been raining frequently and the sun has shied away in this rainy season here in Tokyo. Our distinctive season provide us with distinctive vegetation and fruit; thus this we need this long continuous rain which prolongs at least until the middle of July. It’s no doubt an enduring season, quite hot and humid but at least it keeps your skin baby-like humid which no woman can complain. Here are some party menus and dessert

Due to my circumstances which have occurred to my family, I have started to investigate how to ‘warm the body’ – a slight temperature rise in the body kills unwanted bacterias and illness including cancer cells. One of the recipes which has been added into our food table is – a 4 day fermented BROWN RICE. Brown rice is well known for it natural goodness, lots of fiber and to retain a healthy body. But I must say it is not quite popular…..especially for men who adore WHITE RICE. This ‘4 day fermented BROWN RICE’ is warmed in the rice cooker for practically four days in which the bran and husk disintegrates and combines well with the actual rice turning it slightly like an OSEKIHAN, soft and easy to eat. Using brown rice totally free of pesticides is recommended, especially brown rice. This is what it looks like before the rice is cooked with aduki beans. 4 days Fermented Brown Rice Recipe Brown Rice 4 cups – 720cc Aduki Beans 50g Salt 4g Sake 4g …

September 23 is an ‘AUTUMNAL EQUINOX DAY’, a national holiday and officially the end of the summer season. It is also a time for visiting our ancestors’ graves and making OHAGI (also called BOTAMOCHI) – which is a sticky rice red bean cake as a sign of everyday gratitude. Sticky rice covered with sweet red beans (left and right column) and red beans paste in the inside covered with kinako-a soybean flour (middle column). written by Hisako Makimura/Tokyo, Japan

Vegetables come in great variety during the summertime. Aubergines, green peppers, cucumbers, various type of beans, etc. etc. Japan, especially Tokyo is, I think the best place to shop from groceries to any type of delicacies and even worldwide gourmet. On a daily basis, I personally dislike supermarket shopping (vegetables are mass produced and tend to come tasteless) and I squander small shops; which I keep a personal rated list of good and fresh vegetable shops, butchers, fish monger, fruit shops around my vicinity. Our dinner table is mostly filled with vegetables with one or two dishes of fish or meat, eating light and healthy becomes a habit; more so religious. I will be introducing the how to simply make these everyday Japanese side dishes (homemade washoku) in due course on my recipe pages; which I’ve been trying to build but not so smoothly as I imagined having transferred my site to wordpress.com quite recently. Braised Pumpkin with aduki (red beans) Sauteed Green Pepper with Jyako (dried tiny fish) in …